I'm a correspondent at NPR reporting on how elections, the census, the Postal Service and other parts of the U.S. government work. To send tips, Signal me at hansi.01 or email [email protected]
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NEW: Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia leads 26 fellow House Democrats in calling for the U.S. Postal Service to immediately withdraw postal inspectors from the Department of Homeland Security's immigration task force and asking the postmaster general for an update by Aug. 1

Full disclosure: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR. As a NPR journalist, I follow the NPR Ethics Handbook, which says: "When appropriate, disclose funding relationships in related reports.”
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My latest NPR story: Postmaster General David Steiner eased the worries of U.S. Postal Service union leaders at the National Association of Letter Carriers and the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association for now by saying he doesn’t believe in privatizing USPS. President Trump has expressed support for such a move, which would likely hurt services in rural areas
Full disclosure: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR. As a NPR journalist, I follow the NPR Ethics Handbook, which says: "When appropriate, disclose funding relationships in related reports.”
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The House approved a Trump administration plan to rescind $9 billion in previously allocated funds, including $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — a move that cuts all federal support for NPR, PBS and their member stations, my NPR colleagues Scott Neuman and Lexie Schapitl report
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NEW: The U.S. Postal Service's new leader, David Steiner, says in a video for USPS employees that he does not believe USPS should be privatized and believes in its current structure as a "self-financing, independent entity of the executive branch." Nodding to the controversial "Delivering for America" reorganization plan introduced by former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy in 2021, Steiner says changes in recent years have brought USPS "closer to private sector logistics practices" and improved its competitiveness in terms of pricing and product strategies.
Steiner adds he thinks USPS "can improve" and plans to "assess and determine what modifications" to USPS' approach will "best serve the Postal Service, our employees and our customers."
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NEW: A 14th voting House Republican — Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington — signed on to a resolution saying Congress should make sure the U.S. Postal Service stays an independent federal agency and not privatized. The resolution, which is stuck in the House Oversight Committee, now has 218 sponsors
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NEW: Rep. Rich McCormick of Georgia is the 61st House Republican to co-sponsor a bill calling for excluding people living in the states without U.S. citizenship, such as green card holders, from #2030Census results that the 14th Amendment says must include the “whole number of persons in each state”
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The Senate has approved the Trump administration's $9 billion rescission package aimed at clawing back money already allocated for public radio and television, teeing up a final showdown in the House, which approved an earlier version last month, my NPR colleagues Scott Neuman and Deirdre Walsh report
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UPDATE: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has paused for now a lower court ruling that struck down a key tool for protecting minority voters under the federal Voting Rights Act in seven states. But this case is far from over — and could end up further weakening the landmark law across the United States
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On Tuesday, David Steiner, a former FedEx board member, started serving as the postmaster general leading the U.S. Postal Service, according to a notice USPS filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission. Asked by NPR how Steiner is handling prohibited stocks that could present a financial conflict of interest, USPS spokesperson David Walton says in a statement they "have been or will be resolved, sold, and/or divested as required by law." Full disclosure: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR. As a NPR journalist, I follow the NPR Ethics Handbook, which says: "When appropriate, disclose funding relationships in related reports."

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BREAKING: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has paused a lower court ruling that struck down a key tool for protecting minority voters under the federal Voting Rights Act in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. This order is a procedural step that stops the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals from finalizing the contested panel ruling so that Justice Kavanaugh can continue his review of a request to effectively extend this pause on the ruling. The two tribal nations who made this request are trying to get the panel ruling put on hold so that the North Dakota state legislative map they fought for (to replace one drawn by Republican lawmakers) can be used for next year's election while a Supreme Court appeal of their case continues.
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NEW: Two tribal nations represented by the Campaign Legal Center and Native American Rights Fund — the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe — ask U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to pause a ruling that struck down a key tool for protecting minority voters under the federal Voting Rights Act in Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota

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UPDATE: A GOP-controlled House Appropriations subcommittee voted 9-6 along party lines to advance a funding bill that calls for excluding people living in the states without legal status from #2030Census results that the 14th Amendment says must include the “whole number of persons in each state”
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My latest NPR story: Republicans in Congress are reviving a push to exclude millions of people living in the states without U.S. citizenship from #2030Census counts that the 14th Amendment says must include the “whole number of persons in each state”
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NEW: In a funding bill for the Census Bureau, House Appropriations Committee Republicans call for excluding people living in the states without legal status from #2030Census results that the 14th Amendment says must include the “whole number of persons in each state.” This funding bill would also ban the enforcement of the mandatory response requirement for certain Census Bureau surveys and take away the bureau's ability to "inquire" more than twice to get a response

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Today, the price of a U.S. Postal Service first-class "forever" stamp goes up to 78 cents, along with other mailing price increases. USPS, which generally receives no tax dollars to keep it running, says these changes are needed to help stabilize its finances
Full disclosure: USPS is a financial supporter of NPR. As a NPR journalist, I follow the NPR Ethics Handbook, which says: "When appropriate, disclose funding relationships in related reports.”
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NEW: The House Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Census Bureau is set to meet July 15 at 12 p.m. ET to vote on whether to advance a fiscal year 2026 funding bill
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NEW: The Commerce Department Office of Inspector General has found a senior Census Bureau employee awarded over $90 million in contracts to a contractor affiliated with a company that employed their child, had "improper pre-award communications" and may have tried to defraud the Small Business Administration

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